Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers

Detailed Occupation

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2020 Workforce

398k

Average Age

40.2

Estimated Job Growth

4.01%

10-year projection

Average Salary

$51,133

Average Male Salary

$51,234

Average Female Salary

$45,093

About

Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers are most often employed by the Construction industry. The average yearly wage for Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers was $51,133 in 2016. The top 3 most similar occupations to Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers by wage are Riggers, Special education teachers, and Elementary & middle school teachers.

Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers are part of the Installation, maintenance, & repair occupations, along with Firstline supervisors of mechanics, installers, & repairers, Computer, automated teller, & office machine repairers, Radio & telecommunications equipment installers & repairers, Avionics technicians, Electric motor, power tool, & related repairers, and 26 more.

The top 3 locations that employ the most Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers are St. Mary's & Calvert Counties PUMA, MD, Johnston County PUMA, NC, and St. Lucie County (South) PUMA, FL. The top 3 locations with a relatively high concentration of Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers are San Antonio (Northeast), Kirby & Windcrest Cities PUMA, TX, Miamisburg & West Carrollton Cities PUMA, OH, and Bonita Springs City & Estero (East) PUMA, FL.

Employment

Information on the businesses and industries that employ Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers and on wages and locations for those in the field. Construction is the industry that employs the most Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers, both by share and by number, though the highest paid industry for Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers, by average wage, is Fabric mills, except knitting mills. Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers are paid most in Eugene City (West & South) PUMA, OR but are relatively concentrated in San Antonio (Northeast), Kirby & Windcrest Cities PUMA, TX.

Yearly Wage

$51,133

AVERAGE SALARY

± $1,374

In 2020, Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers earned an average of $51,133, $4,821 less than than the average national salary of $55,954.

Riggers make somewhat more than Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers while Special education teachers make somewhat less. This chart shows the various occupations closest to Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers as measured by average annual salary in the US.

Wage Distribution

0.301

WAGE GINI

In 2015, Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.301, which is lower than than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

Wage by Location

HIGHEST PAYING PUMAS

This map shows the Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States shaded by average annual wage for Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers.

Spatial Concentration

PUMAs with a Relatively High Concentration of Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers

This map displays which Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States have a relatively high population of Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers.

Most Common

The most common industries employing Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers, by number of employees, are Construction, Elementary & secondary schools, Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges, Commercial & industrial machinery & equipment repair & maintenance, General medical and surgical hospitals, and specialty (except psychiatric and substance abuse) hospitals, Lessors of real estate, and offices of real estate agents and brokers, Machinery manufacturing, n.e.c. or not specified, Building material & supplies dealers, Personal & household goods repair & maintenance, Hardware, & plumbing & heating equipment, & supplies merchant wholesalers, and National security & international affairs.

Highest Paying

The highest paying industries for Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers, by average wage, are Fabric mills, except knitting mills, Services incidental to transportation, and Dairy product manufacturing.

Industries by Share

398k

2020 Workforce

± 15,468

4.46%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 5.32%

The number of people employed as Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers has been growing at a rate of 4.46%, from 380,996 people in 2019 to 398,003 people in 2020.

This graphic shows the share of Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers employed by various industries. Construction employs the largest share of Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers at 77.3%, followed by Elementary & secondary schools with 2.31% and Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges with 1.84%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers in the US. The average age of male Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers in the workforce is 40.2 and of female Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers is 39.2, and the most common race/ethnicity for Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers is White (Non-Hispanic).

Composition by Sex

391k

MALE WORKFORCE

± 15,341

6.55k

FEMALE WORKFORCE

± 1,986

98.4% of Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers are Male, making them the more common sex in the occupation. This chart shows the sex breakdown of Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers.

Race & Ethnicity

Most Common Race or Ethnicity of Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers

White (Non-Hispanic)
White (Hispanic)
Black (Non-Hispanic)

68.2% of Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers are White (Non-Hispanic), making that the most common race or ethnicity in the occupation. Representing 12.2% of Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers, White (Hispanic) is the second most common race or ethnicity in this occupation. This chart shows the racial and ethnic breakdown of Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers.

Age by Sex

40.2

AVERAGE MALE AGE

± 0.505

39.2

AVERAGE FEMALE AGE

± 3.92

The median age of Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers is 40.2, and Male employees are generally 0.968 years older than than their Female counterparts.

Education

Data on higher education choices for Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers from The Department of Education and Census Bureau. The most common major for Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers is Business but a relatively high number of Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers hold a major in Mechanical Technologies.

Majors

ACS PUMS data only shows the major for bachelor's degrees. However, we can filter the data based on highest degree obtained.

MOST COMMON MAJORS

MOST SPECIALIZED MAJORS

Skills

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers need many skills, but most especially Repairing, Troubleshooting, and Equipment Maintenance. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers need more than the average amount of Installation, Repairing, and Equipment Maintenance.

Radar Distribution

Bar Chart

Projections

Projections on job growth for Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The 10-year national workforce is projected to grow 3.71%, but Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers are expected to see a growth of 4.01% over the same period. This occupation is expected to grow more than the national average.

Job Growth

For growth projections, the closest comparible industry reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers.

4.01%

Estimated Job Growth

10-year Projection

3.71%

National Growth

10-year Projection

This line chart shows the projected 10-year growth in the number of jobs for Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers. This profession is expected to grow more than than 3.71%, the average rate of national job growth.